Frankfort and Ilion Railroad Company stock certificate circa 1871 (New York)

Nice early trolley piece. Great vignette of a horse drawn trolley car. Unissued and not cancelled. Incorporated 1871 in Frankfort, Herkimer County, New York. Measures approximately 8 x 5 inches.   

Chartered 1871 as a local horse drawn trolley railroad. The Frankfort and Ilion Railroad was proving very successful with over 74,000 passengers have been carried in 1875. Merged in 1895 with other local lines to become the Mohawk, Ilion & Frankfort Electric Railway.

The "Frankfort and Ilion" route refers to the Herkimer, Mohawk, Ilion & Frankfort Electric Railway, a trolley line that served the cities of Frankfort and Ilion, NY, and was formed by combining various trolley lines in the 1890s. The line was originally a horse-drawn railroad started in 1871 and eventually replaced by buses in 1933, though it was a more significant electric trolley and steam-powered electric railway before that. 

The horse railroads provided transportation to and from our neighboring villages of Frankfort, Mohawk and Herkimer for twenty-five years. The opening of the Frankfort-Ilion in 1871 was celebrated in the grand style which befitted such memorable events. Bands played, speeches were made and wildly cheered at an open-air meeting as the last spike of the Mohawk-Ilion railroad was driven home. A basket picnic, music by the cornet bands of Frankfort and Ilion, and, of course, speeches by dignitaries were part of the holiday celebration at Palmer's Grove, when operations were completed on the Frankfort-Ilion railroad.

The fare on the Frankfort-Ilion Road was increased from 10 cents to 15 cents, the directors claiming that it was necessary; the public that it was exorbitant. Over one hundred employees of the Armory, residing in Frankfort, walked to and from work in protest. A week later the workers hired a packet boat, which charged 3 cents for employees, 5 cents for others. The horse railroad bowed to necessity and lowered its fares.

The Baxter Steam-car, a revolutionary experiment in 1872, and another steam car, "Ilion" in 1877, had great merit but never replaced the horse drawn cars. An act was passed by the legislature giving permission to use steam on the Mohawk-Ilion and Frankfort-Ilion lines, but Governor Dix vetoed the bill on the grounds that there were "insuperable" objections to use of the bank of the canal for purposes contemplated.

Frankfort is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States formed after the Revolutionary War from part of the town of German Flatts. The town is named after one of its earliest settlers, Lawrence (Lewis) Frank The town of Frankfort includes a village, also called Frankfort. Frankfort is located east of Utica, and the Erie Canal passes along its northern border. 

Ilion is a village in Herkimer County, New York, United States was settled around 1725. Located in the Mohawk Valley region, the village is at the northern edge of the town of German Flatts, though a tiny portion is in the town of Frankfort. It is south of the Mohawk River and Erie Canal.

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